Black Lives or Bottom Line? Activists Ask What N.F.L. Protests Are All About

Protesters rallied in support of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick outside Sunday’s game between the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals in Detroit.Credit
Jose Juarez/Associated Press

While a debate over professional football players kneeling during the national anthem consumed much of the country over the weekend, a scene was playing out around St. Louis that drew far less notice. There, demonstrators protested the acquittal of a white former police officer in the fatal 2011 shooting of a black man, marching inside a mall and through the streets in daily protests over the case for more than a week.

Around the country, racial justice activists are concerned that the essential issues they have spent years trying to highlight — police brutality and systemic racism — could get lost in the growing national dialogue emerging from football stadiums.

When Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, first made headlines last year by sitting during the national anthem, he made his motive clear: He was protesting racial injustice in America, especially the police killings of black people, an issue that began drawing increased national attention after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014.

But now, with President Trump criticizing the N.F.L. and its kneeling players, leading many players, owners and league officials to band together, motivations have become murky, racial justice advocates and protesters say. Are they fighting for free speech or against police brutality? Is the anti-racism message of kneeling being co-opted by a league and owners more concerned about their bottom line than black lives? Why is there so much talk of what it means to stand for the national anthem and so little about Anthony Lamar Smith, the black man who was shot in 2011 by the former St. Louis police officer?

The latest debate over the national anthem came in response to Mr. Trump’s comments during a rally in Alabama last week. He urged N.F.L. owners to fire players who did not stand for the anthem, saying they should “get that son of a bitch off the field right now.” Many players, owners and the league took exception to Mr. Trump’s harsh language. They responded by locking arms during the national anthem at Sunday’s games, and many players and officials denounced the president for suggesting that peaceful protesters be fired.

But Ms. Ailith said the protests should not focus on the president, but on achieving racial justice in areas like policing, education, health care and the economy. Otherwise, she said, the efforts would amount to little more than symbolism.

“This becomes something that white people who think they aren’t white supremacists do all the time,” she said. “They like to hop on board a particular cause that allows them to dissociate themselves from racist American history.”

It was up to social justice leaders to help focus the N.F.L.-centered activism, said Michael Skolnik, an entrepreneur and activist.

“From a movement perspective, it’s critical as activists and as folks in the movement that we continue to message,” Mr. Skolnik said of the array of groups that have emerged in recent years, including Black Lives Matter, aiming to change policies on issues like police training and oversight and criminal justice policies. “As much as Donald Trump wants to make it about him, this is not about him. This is about ending police brutality, fixing our criminal justice system and ending the killing of black men and black women by the police.”

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For Elle Hearns, an activist who has done organizing for Black Lives Matter, there is a contradiction in the N.F.L. being used as a vehicle for protest. It is an organization rooted in capitalism, a system that she said hurts and marginalizes black people. Several owners have contributed money to Mr. Trump, some have discouraged players from protesting during the national anthem and none has hired Mr. Kaepernick, who is now a free agent. Ms. Hearns and others said they wonder whether the league’s owners are getting involved now because they fear that the president’s comments will cause them to lose fans — and, by extension, money.

“There’s still no collective defining of what it means for people in this country to be in unity when black people are continuing to be discarded,” she said.

Ms. Hearns said she appreciated the movement that Mr. Kaepernick started, but was concerned by how people have responded. The focus, she said, needed to be less on celebrities, and more on marginalized people.

“This is great for symbolism, which America is great at,” she said of the anthem protests. “But it’s not great for actually providing equity.”

If nothing else, activists see the N.F.L. debate as another platform to bring attention to issues that they have been pressing, particularly given the league’s huge popularity and broad reach.

“I feel like there is an opportunity where we can use Trump as a pawn to start a conversation to talk about the ways in which white supremacy has permeated our society,” Ms. Ailith said.

Photo

A protester stood in front of St. Louis police officers equipped with riot gear on Sept. 15, after the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a former St. Louis police officer charged in the 2011 fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.Credit
Lawrence Bryant/Reuters

In the N.F.L., some players have taken concrete steps on matters of racial injustice. Mr. Kaepernick has donated $1 million to various charities. Malcolm Jenkins, a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles who has been raising his fist during the national anthem, has done a ridealong with the police and met with lawmakers in Washington. Anquan Boldin, a former N.F.L. wide receiver, retired from the sport to focus on activism.

Still, some activists find it disturbing that it took Mr. Trump’s comments to lead many in the N.F.L. to get involved.

“I’m apprehensive that Charlottesville wasn’t the match, that the killing of black and brown folks wasn’t the match,” said Wade Davis, a former N.F.L. player who works with athletes on social justice issues.

But Mr. Davis said Mr. Trump’s remarks had cleared the way for more players to protest, removing some of the political stigma and economic pressure that had led some to steer clear of such issues.

Many of the athletes themselves came from backgrounds in which they were affected by racial injustice and watched their parents struggle, he said, even if they are now well-paid football players.

“These athletes are wrestling with something that is so deep, that is so real, they can almost touch going back into poverty,” he said.

He said he hopes that the rush of protest now can remove some of those fears, and perhaps lead to a unified effort to combat racial inequality, adding: “I hope that one of the largest takeaways is players really see the strength that they have in numbers.”

Follow John Eligon on Twitter @jeligon

A version of this article appears in print on September 27, 2017, on Page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Protests Start a Dialogue, But About What, Exactly?. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe